24 new species of lizards discovered on Caribbean islands are close to extinction

Jason Farmer for RedOrbit.com In a recent scientific publication, 24 new species of lizards known as skinks, all found on the Caribbean islands, have been discovered and named. Each year, in dozens of scientific publications, approximately 130 new species of reptiles from all over the world are added to the global count. But, since the nineteenth century not more than 20 reptile species have been added at one time in any single publication. The research team responsible for the new discoveries examined museum specimens of the lizards. The team identified a total of 39 species of skinks from the Caribbean islands. However, Blair Hedges, lead researcher in the study and a professor of biology at Penn State, has concluded that of those newly discovered species, half may already be extinct, and that all of the other skink species on the Caribbean islands are close to or threatened by extinction. The researchers say predation by the mongoose is the primary cause for the loss of the lizards and the threat of their